


The Misadventure of Miss Rémi Jane Hawley-Miller

by theprincessed



Series: in the middle of a chain reaction (mpreg 'verse) [2]
Category: Emmerdale RPF
Genre: Accidents, Family Feels, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 20:30:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11813646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprincessed/pseuds/theprincessed
Summary: Rémi takes an unfortunate tumble as a toddler and has to go to hospital…





	The Misadventure of Miss Rémi Jane Hawley-Miller

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! Surprise! More unplanned fic lol. This is for [D](http://archiveofourown.org/users/bonotje) as she asked me about Rémi Jane as a toddler and this little thing popped into my head today.
> 
> Hope you - and everyone else - enjoy, chicka. Thanks for the chats x

August summer heat beats down on the leafy Leeds suburb where the kids play in the garden and the adults mingle, grandparents stealing the shade sat on patio chairs and families scattered outside and in. With even a quarter of the Miller brood in attendance, Ryan and Danny's house is filled with chatter, laughter and noise and Ryan finds he can smile at it now instead of being terrified. Six years with same person and almost four of them with a kid can do that to you.

Ryan is just moving a second batch of salad into the bowl that was an engagement present from Danny's parents when his phone starts vibrating on the kitchen counter. 

With his little finger and some difficulty, he accepts the call and leans over so he can be seen. “Where are you? You said you'd be back by now. Everyone's here,”

“Apparently the B&Q I was thinking of has closed down, so I had to go further.” Danny says, as Ryan props his phone against a tall glass so he can keep on working. Tasha had been helping, but he thinks he can hear her screaming outside so she must've got drawn into something with the kids. “Hey, are you cooking _more_ food?”

Ryan glances up to see him frown and shakes his head. “Salad isn't cooking, Danny. Besides, everyone's eating this stuff because we have no barbecue!”

“Babe, relax. I'm on the case.” he grins, pushing up the peak of his snapback slightly as he walks from the car to the next B&Q. He leans in like he's about to whisper. “Bit gutted you're not in your chef's jacket though.”

Ryan tries hard not to blush and suddenly finds tomatoes and peppers really interesting. “It's in the wash. After last time.”

“Oh yeah, I remember,” Danny laughs, eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

“Just get the thing and come home and I swear if you let this one rust outside again I'll - ”

“I won't,” he interrupts, saving them from treading the same old argument. “I'll see you in a bit. Love you.”

Ryan rolls his eyes but tells him he loves him in return because he can't not before he disconnects the call. The salad is just about complete when he hears another scream, only this time it's something more shrill and panicked. There's movement by the French patio doors and Ryan looks up in time to see Kaitlin, Danny's niece, skid into the room, eyes wide.

“Uncle Ryan, quick! It's RJ! She fell!” she exclaims then blinks because she's never called him that before. “I – I mean - ”

But Ryan's not listening, he slams the bowl on the counter and rushes outside with her on his tail, his stomach in his throat as he hears high-pitched crying and fears what he'll find. Children are loitering everywhere as the adults crowd around the middle of the spacious back garden and as Ryan runs into the fray he spots Lucy, Danny's sister, crouched over.

“She won't let me look,” she says apologetically, getting to her feet to reveal his daughter curled up in a ball on the grass, face red and wet from crying her little heart out.

He falls to his knees and touches her shoulder, but her scream makes him flinch and feel entirely out of his depth for a very long second. She's clutching her elbow like her life depends on it with her shoulders tensely hunched around her ears and her eyes screwed shut, so Ryan does the only thing he can think of and steps over to the side that was facing away from him, laying down on the grass. It's not the first time she's been this stubborn nor the first injury. Ryan's constantly telling her not to run so fast.

“Sweetheart, it's Daddy,” he says softly, cupping her damp cheek and his heart lurching as she grizzles, taking him back to the days when she was a tiny little newborn just out of hospital and in a strange cot in their bedroom. “Where does it hurt?”

He has a pretty good idea, but he doesn't want to do anything to cause more hurt or upset, so Rémi takes the lead. “My arm,” she moans, rolling closer towards his body.

Ryan kneels up and kisses her forehead, stroking her dark, wayward curls away from her face to calm her sobs. “Can Daddy have a look at your arm?”

After a pause, she nods without opening her eyes and, with a deep breath in himself, Ryan slowly takes her other hand away from her elbow. She'd been hiding a bloody graze and he thinks with some relief that it's not so bad, he can handle a cut and shocked tears, until he rotates her arm to get a better look and she flails, shrieking in pain. Ryan hears the music, although turned down, still playing in the background so everyone hears each other's gasps of horror and he instantly feels hot with embarrassment.

“Daddy! You said look, not touch!” Rémi shouts, angry through another round of sobs.

Lucy snorts with disguised laughter and Ryan stops feeling so scared, hurt and uptight. She might be technically right, because she's a very bright girl, but he's the one in control and so, he gently pulls her into a sitting position, her hand back on her elbow.

“I'm sorry I said look when I meant touch, sweetheart, but I need to know what's going on, you see? Can you tell me what happened?”

Rémi looks down at her lap and sniffs loudly, her tears subsiding again since Ryan's hand is only a warm, steady weight on her back.

“RJ climbed the tree and fall off,” one of her younger cousins pipes up, grinning proudly in wonder, as if Ryan's daughter is the best. She is, but not for that and Ryan clenches his jaw, knowing he can't be mad at a gleeful three year old for telling the truth nor that disappointed at his adventurous, fearless child climbing the one tree in the shaded corner of their garden when right now she's clearly in pain.

“Is this true?” She nods and Ryan stands up, sighing, resigned to the fact that the barbecue will have to wait, possibly until another day. He squeezes Rémi's other shoulder gently as she wobbles to her feet too. “Come on, let's go and see the doctor.”

He's halfway across the garden with a gaggle of kids following him and the gathering slowly getting back to normal when he realises that his daughter isn't one of them and he looks over his shoulder. She's back to crying and Ryan would commend her flair for the dramatic if she wasn't covered in grass stains, snot and her tears weren't big, silent tracks this time. He makes his way to her for the second time and is taken aback when she flings her good arm around his body and buries her face tightly into his stomach.

“I don't – I don't want – the doctor to chop off my arm, Daddy,” she hiccups, holding onto the back of Ryan's t-shirt. “I'm sorry, Daddy, please,”

Bewildered, Ryan glances at Lucy and she looks at him, amused, but even if she's been through this, he hasn't and he squats to cuddle her carefully, hand sinking into her curly bobbed hair. “Hey, shh – it's alright, Daddy's here - Does it really hurt that bad?”

“Yeah,” she says, muffled into his shoulder, so Ryan picks her up as he feels her shaking like a leaf. “Where's Dada? I want Dada,”

Ryan has his car keys in his hand and a rushed apology to everyone on his lips before she can start crying again. It's worse than he thought because she hasn't called Danny that for at least 6 months, claiming that she was a “big girl now” and no one had Dadas, only Daddies and Dads. He's almost glad that he doesn't have to worry about the twins as well, both sets of doting grandparents will fuss over them just fine, then feels guilty for only wanting to concentrate on Rémi until Ryan's mum reads his face and she tells him that his daughter needs him, giving him the permission to flee.

Outside, he manages to get Rémi properly strapped into her car seat, all the while keeping up a steady stream of talk to distract her from any pain, including why her Dada still isn't home (Ryan's in two minds whether to kill him yet or not) and that the doctor won't chop her arm off, they'll fix it.

She stares at him with huge, red-rimmed blue eyes, making him pause from shutting the car door. “Even if it's hanging off?”

He knows her arm isn't “hanging off”, but he doesn't tell her that. Instead, he kisses her forehead again and gives her a smile. “Especially then, sweetheart. Doctors are very clever people.”

He dismisses the idea of the local surgery, needing Rémi to be seen to immediately, and drives to A&E instead, checking on her the whole time in his rear view mirror. 

Ryan's in reception with her when he realises that the only thing he picked up were his keys. He has no phone or wallet and yet can't really regret being so forgetful when all that really, truly matters to him is Rémi is alright and at least he's allowed to go with her into a cubicle before a doctor comes to assess the situation. He's aware of Rémi's eyes on him as he anxiously paces the floor until the curtain is drawn back by a man in a shirt and a woman in a nurse's uniform. Brown eyed and bearded, the doctor smiles kindly at Rémi as she lays propped up on the bed.

“Hello, I'm Dr Wilkins, but you can call me Matthew. What's your name?” he asks, coming to stand on the other side of the bed to Ryan. He grabs her small hand for reassurance, her fingers swallowed warmly, protectively by his as she looks at the stranger then, at Ryan's encouraging nod, gives him a big grin. 

“My name's Rémi but everyone calls me RJ 'cause my middle name is Jane and I'm 3 and a half.”

Matthew's mouth drops open, feigning shock. “Well, RJ, I thought you were at least 10!”

“But that's old!” she crows, nose wrinkled in disgust.

“Hm yes, you're right, that is incredibly old. Silly me,” he smiles, playing along as he and the nurse pull on their gloves as discreetly as possible.

“How old are you?”

“Rémi - ” Ryan hisses tightly, squeezing her hand and wishing she wasn't so curious and forthright sometimes.

Matthew laughs. “I'm 31, so I'm very old,”

“That's like Daddy!” she giggles and Ryan smooths her hair back, glad that him holding her hand will allow the doctor to look at her injury with hopefully less distress.

“Yeah, when I had you,” he risks joining in, “I'm even older now.”

She looks at him, wide eyed. “Dada's not.” She turns her attention to Matthew again, who is itching to get started on the problem. “Daddy said we're gonna have a big party when Dada's 30 to rub it in his face and - ”

“Okay!” Ryan cuts her off, “It's time to be quiet now, sweetheart. Can you let the doctor have a look – I mean, touch – can you let him touch your arm?”

Taking his advice to heart, Rémi nods silently and bravely lets him carefully move her arm much more freely than she would with Ryan, probably not entirely trusting him to do a good job when doctors are the ones who fix people when they feel really, really bad. He has a feeling that elbow graze will have his kiss' name on it later.

“Alright, RJ – can I call you RJ? We're friends, yeah? - I'm gonna send you for an X-ray,” Matthew declares, expression serious but calm.

“Is it that bad?” Ryan blurts out, hoping they'd be home before Danny finds them not there and starts to worry.

“RJ, is it okay if I have a talk with your daddy for a second outside the curtain?” Matthew tells her by asking. Ryan's impressed and wonders if he has kids himself. “Why don't you ask Sharon how old she is?”

He winks and Rémi giggles, blushing, an affliction she inherited from her father but it's usually pretty hard to achieve when she's rushing around like a tornado, making everyone else feel things instead. Usually joy, sometimes fond despair.

Leaving the cubicle with his daughter in the safe hands of the nurse, Ryan faces Matthew and braces himself for the news. “So – er...Mr?”

Ryan blinks at him before he realises what's missing. “Oh! Sorry. I'm Ryan,”

“So, Ryan. I think there's a strong possibility that RJ's broken her arm, which is why I'm sending her for an X-ray to confirm,”

“Bro – broken?” Ryan feels sick again, guilt clawing at his insides. “Broken her arm? Like, the bone?”

Matthew's kind smile is for him this time. “First-time parent, eh? Yes, her arm is broken but it seems like a clean break, nothing nasty sticking out, needing to be pinned back in. The nurse will put her in a cast after the X-ray and then you'll be on your way, don't worry.”

“Easy for you to say,” he snorts, rubbing his jaw self-consciously.

“Trust me, the first big injury is always more of a shock. My two were forever falling over at that age too.” he says, proving Ryan's suspicions. “What happened?”

“She fell out of the tree in our garden, according to her cousin. I – uh – wasn't there. I was in the kitchen and I've told her before not to climb things without me or Danny there, but does she listen?” At Matthew's raised eyebrow, Ryan abruptly shuts up. “Sorry.”

“It's fine and she'll be fine too y'know. She seems like a tough cookie.”

Reminded of her unconventional start in life, Ryan has to agree.

\---

With the X-ray confirming that Rémi does indeed have her first broken bone, the nurse is halfway through putting on her cast with the promise that she will cover the outside in bright pink when Rémi's lower lip dangerously trembles again.

“Hey, you're doing so well, sweetheart,” Ryan says hurriedly, rubbing his thumb against the back of the palm of her other hand, “you're being so, so brave and when we get home you can skip straight to having some ice cream, yeah? What's a hot day without raspberry ripple, eh?”

She giggles wetly but her eyes remain sad. They remind him of when Danny is acting his socks off. “I want Dada,” she whimpers and Ryan freezes.

“Shi – shoot!” he curses, straightening and saving himself just in time (“She's intelligent, Danny. We can't let her go to school knowing every swear word that's out there,”). “I'm sure he's on his way, sweetheart. In fact, I'll go and check right now. Where's the nearest payphone to here?” Sharon pauses at his question with her hands full of wet plaster and he knows why. “I forgot my phone.”

Armed with directions and a promise to his daughter that he'll be five seconds tops, Ryan has just emerged from the corridor of cubicles when he spots Danny at reception, seemingly arguing in a loud whisper with the receptionist.

“What d'ya mean I can't see my daughter? Is she alright? At least tell me that!”

“I'm sorry, sir, but only the parent or guardian are allowed to accompany minors to this department - ”

“Danny!” Ryan calls and sure enough he turns, his face pinched in frustration then opened up with agony from the news that his daughter is hurt. “I'm so sorry I didn't call. I left my phone and my wallet at home,”

“What about RJ? Is she okay? What happened?”

Ryan lets himself fall into Danny's waiting arms for a few precious, tight seconds before answering all his questions. “She fell out of that stupid tree in the garden just after I got off the phone to you and broke her arm,”

“Broke her - ”

“Come on,” he interjects, needing to make their little girl happy again. He grabs Danny's hand and starts to drag him towards the doors.

“Sirs, you can't - ”

“He's my husband and my little girl is crying for both her fathers, so excuse us,” Ryan snaps at the receptionist and feels Danny squeeze his hand. 

It's rare that he's anything but extremely polite to people, but the tsunami of emotion is building and building and it's been a tough hour, between waiting in A&E with a tearful three year old in pain and then hanging around for an X-ray before anyone could even attempt to fix her. Danny is still 'just' his fiancé, but the receptionist doesn't need to know that, not when they already decided to wear (engagement) rings to make it easy for Rémi to believe that they're in this together for good.

Ryan leads him to the right cubicle before he sneaks another hug and tears prick at his eyes. Her ordeal is almost over, but maybe that's what makes him feel so fragile. He's managed to deal with this on his own and now he doesn't have to.

“Babe, it's alright,” Danny soothes, rubbing his back and kissing his neck.

“I was so scared,” he confesses, keeping his voice down in case the hospital or, worse, Rémi overhears, “Seeing her lying there – on the grass, not moving, but crying so much – it – it broke my heart y'know,”

“I'm sorry I didn't make it back in time. Mum told me where you were.” Pulling Ryan upright, he kisses him chastely whilst holding his face, something he never does but Ryan's grateful for it anyway, comforted completely. “Let's see what she's up to.”

He's got his hand on the curtain when Ryan remembers. “Oh, by the way, she's calling you Dada again,”

Danny raises his eyebrows. “Okay...”

“Just go with it. I think the fall frightened her more than she's letting on.”

“Good. Maybe she'll listen to us next time,” Danny says not unkindly, but they share a smile because they know that's unlikely. She's a good kid, just a little...free-spirited. Danny draws back the curtain to reveal Rémi still on the bed, looking down in fascination at the bright pink cast now sat on her left arm. “Hey trouble! What monsters have ya been slaying, eh?”

Rémi lights up, both arms out for a big, gentle cuddle. “Dad!” Danny looks at Ryan, but he shrugs, guessing that she must feel a bit better already. “And it wasn't monsters,” she adds firmly, “they are for bedtime. Leon was a tiger and I was an ankle-pope, so I climbed the big tree to get away,”

Danny nods like it makes perfect sense because, to her, it does. “Do you mean an antelope, sweetpea?”

“Yeah, that's what I said! But Leon didn't know that I could turn into a bear and bears can go RAWR and jump!” she exclaims, roaring and grinning before her face falls. “But the grass didn't know too. It hurt.”

“Aw, I'm sorry,” he says sympathetically, kissing the top of her head and carefully holding her to his side as he settles on the edge of the bed.

“Why are you saying sorry, Dad? You didn't hurt me,”

“Yeah, she's back to normal,” Ryan mutters, smiling as Sharon the nurse clears away the detritus of fitting Rémi's cast and tries to keep her amusement to herself.

“Ready to go, sweetpea?” Danny picks her up, even though she's getting too big for that, but she pushes hard at his chest and kicks her legs.

“No!”

“What? Why not?”

“Matthew has to write on my cast,”

Danny looks at Ryan, confused. “She means the doctor who saw her.”

“Yeah, he said I could call him Matthew and he calls me RJ.” she nods enthusiastically, “Daddy liked him too,”

“Oh, he did?”

“I didn't!” Ryan protests, despite thinking he was very helpful and kind and alright, quite good looking, but he lets Danny gang up on him with their daughter so they can get her out of the hospital and take her home. “He was just very good at his job that's all.”

“Tell me, miss, what did he look like?”

“He had a fuzzy face like you,” Rémi giggles, shrieking again – in laughter, thankfully – as Danny nuzzles his beard against her soft cheek.

“That explains it,” he grins at his fiancé. Once they're outside in the beautiful summer's day once more with no further mention of Dr Wilkins, Danny puts Rémi on the ground and squats in front of her. “Y'know, maybe on Monday, if you're good, we can go see the guys at the studios. You can show them your cast and see if they'll sign it for you,”

“But what about big school? I like big school,” she sighs, her fingers already absently scratching over the hard plaster. Ryan really hopes she won't feel properly itchy so soon.

“I know you do, sweetpea, and that's great, but I'm sure you can have one little day off. Right, Daddy?”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Ryan relents quickly, especially when Rémi jumps in the air, other arm aloft as she cheers.

Even though she's just got out of hospital, she's not an easy child to slow down and they watch as she runs along the pavement, luckily stopping at the curb to wait for her parents before she crosses the road. Danny slips his arm around Ryan's waist as they walk towards her.

“You are in so much trouble when we get home,” he says into his ear, but Ryan misses his lascivious tone.

“I'm sorry I wasn't watching her and I'm sorry I forgot my phone so I couldn't tell you and - ”

“Oi,” Danny laughs, squeezing above his hip, “stop it. I meant about you fancying Dr Matthew McFancypants,”

“That's not his name and I didn't fancy him! He was just good with RJ. He has kids of his own.”

“That's an awful lot of personal information you know about one doctor.” Danny's eyes suddenly light up, exactly like their daughter. “Maybe he fancied you?”

“Shut up,”

“Ah c'mon, I'm just messing with you!” he laughs again, pulling him to a stop next to Rémi eagerly waiting at the curb. “Ryan, she's fine. It's only a broken arm. Knowing her, this'll be the first of many _and that's alright_ ,” he says, raising his voice as Ryan opens his mouth to worry. “She's not the type to want to be wrapped up in cotton wool forever. Didn't you want her to be adventurous and non-traditional? Her own person? We're doing okay. Actually, we're _better_ than okay, she's a fucking cracker!”

“Danny!” Ryan tries to tell him off, but he can't help his chuckle. He loves him so much he feels it in his chest.

He steps back, hands raised to placate. “I know, I know, swearing is bad, but you're both worth being honest. I love you, a lot.”

Ryan reaches for his t-shirt to pull him in, to kiss him, when Rémi tugs at the hem of his and she hops on the spot. “Can I go now, please, Daddy? I want to show Leon and Kaitlin my arm,”

“Yeah, just hold my hand so we can cross the road,” he half laughs, as they move across the carpark before Danny has to split to his own car and meet them back at their house, where apparently everyone has decided to hang around for a very late barbecue and to see how their RJ is doing. 

Ryan realises that's what's most important at the end of the day - going through life together, with each other and their families, all there for Rémi when she needs them. 

Always.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, lovelies x
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [theprincessed](http://www.theprincessed.tumblr.com). Come chat to me. :)


End file.
